Mountain Equipment Coop’s new line of bikes, made available across Canada this week, has been a long time coming. As a retailer of goods targeted towards both young, professional weekend warriors and the granola-crunching set, cycling seems like a natural fit for MEC. After all, the Vancouver-based non-profit has been selling bike accessories since 1978; why shouldn’t it make its own bicycles, too? MEC, however, is not just a retailer—it’s a sort of well-meaning behemoth, and its foray into cycling has drawn heat from the fiercely independent bike community.